Not a Slave
by Roseville
Summary: Hannah Drozdov was a captive of the Strigoi for three long years... Now she is free and has a choice to be a Guardian or to be a lover but why can't she be both? She has to navigate family issues, court issues, and the consequences of choices she makes along the way. If you are a Rose/Dimitri fan you may be disappointed.
1. No Rest for Weary

_This is a story I took over for friend who couldn't do it. The character of Hannah is nicknamed Nan, she is the first cousin of Aaron Drozdov and her mother is Martha Drozdov and her father is human which is unusual for dhampirs. All I have done in the first chapter is clean up the grammar, but the other chapters will be me writing. Reviews welcome, no bashing._

Nan was sitting in the chair that Giles had put her in, she felt as if she was going to fall out. After her latest beating her go to first-aid Strigoi was rubbing some muscle relaxer on her calf, he had sown her forehead before that after Peter the leader of the group had tried put her head through the table.

Nan stared straight ahead not wanting to let the emotions show, she wasn't going to cry even in front of Giles. Giles became as close to an ally as she was going to get, ever since she was taken three years ago by the Strigoi. "How many this time and when was the last time you ate?" Giles questioned.

"Just Peter this time and about three days. Is he really leaving for a few days?" Nan stuttered as a headache came on.

"Yes, it seems guardians have been snooping too close for his comfort and a lot of them." Giles confirmed as he finished rubbing in the ointment.

Strigoi even well organized groups didn't just take dhampirs and keep them long term. They would either kill them or turn them but even Giles wondered why they were keeping her, they never fed from her, they used her for entertainment, for sex. Nan remembered the first time Peter had taken her, in front of the whole coven, it was humiliating. She had shut her eyes tightly and cried as he took her virginity.

"How close?" Nan swallowed hard at the memory.

"Very, something led them here or someone." Giles got up from his crouching and put the ointment away and passed her some aspirin. Giles and her tutor Ben were able to be around her more often than the others because they were older, Giles had fought in the Revolutionary War, for the British of course. Ben had been living with a Moroi family as their guardian during the 1930's, he was turned when they attacked the wife of a Badica royal.

Nan nodded her head and tried to hide any sign of hope from her face because even though Giles healed her wounds he was still a Strigoi and he could take her life at any moment. "Go to Ben, he has a new math assignment for you." Giles red eyes flared at her but he smiled at her. "Just try to avoid Heather, she is cranky."

Before she could get up to leave Nan was stopped by Ben as he flung open the door, "They are here, penetrated the east wing and are heading this way." Ben voice was strained and angry.

"Who." Nan asked, she didn't know if he met Peter's archenemies Gina.

"Guardians, a lot of them, twenty at least. Peter is nowhere to be found." Ben said as he came to stand in front of Nan.

"Go, to your room and stay there, don't move no matter what happens." Giles commanded as he grabbed her and quickly rushed out of the office. He moved hastily and they could already hear the sounds of fighting in the lower level of the compound. They passed a couple of Strigoi but they didn't seem to notice the duo moving through the corridor. Giles unlocked her door and pushed her in, "Stay, I or Ben will get you." He slammed the door shut and she heard him lock it again.

Sitting on the bed that was in her small dingy room, it had been her prison for the last three years. Nan reached underneath her mattress and pulled out the well-worn photo of her mother, father, and her at court with Queen Tatianna. The Guardians were here, would they succeed? Would they find her? Right now, if she hadn't been taken Nan would be training to be one right now, she would be a Novice at St. Vladimir's. That was not to be, she was kidnapped at a family party where Strigoi had penetrated the perimeter and had taken the Guardians by surprise. She had seen her cousin, Odessa, a Moroi get sucked dry and an Uncle just get his neck snapped.

"Please God, Let them prevail." Nan prayed as she held the photo close to her chest.

Her bed shock, Nan heard a large boom and some screaming. Obviously the Guardians had hit the second floor stair case in her wing of the compound, it had been rigged to go off if you didn't hit a code. She was surprised they had gotten that far and her heart jumped in her chest. Even Nan never dared try to get out and go that far away from room. Nan took action as she went to her closet and at the bottom a small sack was hiding underneath a floorboard, it was one that Giles had given her after she had been there three months. It contained a change of clothes, a little bit of cash and ID, just in case she was able to escape. Today might be the day if she is able to do just that.

She began to wonder if Peter knew they had gotten this close or had he been caught on his way out of the compound, Nan certainly hoped that he had eliminated by the incoming Guardians. Her heart was beating out of chest, she could feel it thumping as the fighting got closer down further the corridor, she could hear bodies hitting the floor and fighting and grunting. Willing to herself to breath Nan tried to slow her heart down, this was it. Would the Guardians get to her door and get in and take her away from this or would the Strigoi get there first and drink her dry. What seemed like an eternity to Nan she started to hear doors open right across from the hall.

A lot of "Nothing here" or a "clear". Had the Guardians really gotten through the Strigoi coven that quickly?

"This is locked I am going to need something to break it down." A deep voice shouted on the other side of the door but ever being cautious of having too much hope, she didn't recognize it as any of the Strigoi she knew, it must be the Guardians.

A clanking sound was all she could make out and soon it sounded like they were just going to axe through door. Why hadn't she thought of that…? She would be greatly outnumbered in her attempts to escape even if she had gotten out of the room. As precaution Nan got up and went and hid in the closet, hope was growing but she didn't want to just assume it was a guardian and not a manic Strigoi. "It's Guardian, please let it be Guardians." She prayed to whoever was listening, whatever god was taking requests and fulfilling she would pray to. A knot formed in her belly at the prospect and the fear, she couldn't decide which was more nerve wreaking. Through the closet door she continued to hear the splintering of wood and the grunting of the man who was swinging the axe.

A crack and thud later she heard the man step through door. "The bed has been slept in recently." The guy said. A few more pairs of footsteps followed the other into the room. The door of her little bathroom was opened and she could hear the cabinets being open. Nan wanted to add a more than slept in to that sentence but she waited with baited breath to be discovered, her chest felt like it was going to explode.

"Female, the pipes are still warm. Been used recently, a few hours ago tops." The one invading her bathroom stated as he came out to join the others. "I..."

NAN POV

No one had interjected and I leaned in closer to hear what he would say next but only the sound of floorboards came. Next thing I knew silence was cut short as the closet was flung open, it hit the wall with a bang and a Guardian wearing a long duster came into my view, he was very tall and had big brown eyes. He stared at me for only a split second and then he swiftly grabbed me as if I was a rag doll. I dropped my bag in the process and I was yanked out of the closet and was slammed up against the wall beside the closet door. I heard a rib snap and cried out at the shock the pain had brought, I hit the floor and another guardian came into the in a hurry. He was tall as well but with a short blonde haircut with a few strands of grey, he was clearly the leader of this group. He saw me on the floor and looked at the one in the duster. "Dimitri, be careful, she's not a Strigoi."

Dimitri looked down at me as I was holding my ribs and trying not to cry. "I had to be sure." Dimitri addressed the other Guardian. He turned his attention to me as I continued to hold my sides, "What is your name?"

I looked around the room at the five Guardians waiting for the answer and then I looked at Dimitri, "Hannah Elizabeth Drozdov, my mother is Marta." I saw a look of surprise on Dimitri and others faces.

"She's the one that has been missing for three years, the one taken during the Dashkov party in Kiev that year." The blonde haired one said. "Your father is human isn't he?" he asked me trying to confirm my identity.

"Yes, my father is Benjamin Addams. I am the only dhampir who can claim a vampire mother and a DAR membership." I said as I didn't want my human heritage to be forgotten about either and also I wanted to keep things short because my ribs were killing me.

"Get her bandaged up and get her out of here." The leader commanded as a red headed woman came in and was helping me up.

"Let's get you downstairs, I'll wrap your ribs up there." The older red haired Guardian explained to me as she was wrapped her arm around my shoulders and led me from the room.

As we left, I saw at least ten guardians going through the rooms, talking on radios to others in and out of the building more than likely. As we went down the old spiral staircase I saw a couple of the guardians give me weird looks. "We weren't expecting to find a prisoner, we were hoping to find the coven leader." The older guardian said as we made it to the bottom and into a small living area that they had made into a first aid room. There was another woman maybe in her late twenties, who was getting an arm reset and another male guardian with thick dark black hair and an ear ring in both ears, he was having his leg looked at.

"You mean Peter?" I looked at her questioningly.

"I don't know, what his name was before he was lost." The woman sneered at me.

"Lost it doesn't begin to cover it." I muttered, she still heard me because she grinned.

"I forgot to introduce myself, I am Janine, I have a daughter about your age." Janine told me as she led me to a corner where we would have some privacy. She grabbed some ace bandages and a first aid kit.

"Oh, is she a novice?" I asked trying to make conversation, although I was a pretty rusty.

"Yes, she goes to St. Vladimir's." Janine told me as she rolled up her sleeves and put her gloves on. "Just lift up your shirt." She asked.

I grabbed the hem of the t-shirt that I was wearing, it was a stolen item that Giles had gotten me. I lifted it up to about what ribs I thought were broken. Janine began pressing down on my ribs and she hit the spot because I jerked back. She put some pressure on the ribs and the surrounding ones. "I am going to have reset those ribs."

I wasn't looking forward to it but I endured worse pain, "Just get it over with." I told her. Those weren't the worse injuries I had on me, I still had a set of Peter's hands on my sides.

Janine looked at me questioningly but did it anyway. It hurt, the wave of pain pushed me over and I would have hit the floor if it hadn't been for Guardian Dimitri catching me. "You okay?" I had closed my eyes and my head was spinning.

"Yeah, I will be." I croaked. I felt him place on the edge of a chair so that Janine could still wrap my chest but I felt Dimitri ghost his fingers where the handprints of my last attack were still lingering. My stomach lurched and my skin pricked at his touch.

"When did this happen?" Dimitri asked as Janine continued wrapping my ribs

"This morning." I admitted.

"How often did this happen?" Dimitri probed further.

"About every day, I lost count after a while." I had lost count of how many times I was beaten, raped, or humiliated.

Janine cleared her throat but he continued to ghost his fingers outlining my earlier injury. "Well, I am going to go see if the car is ready to take you, your mother has been notified and is on her way to meet us in Tarasov."

Dimitri POV

The bruising on her sides were deep blue and black, they had to hurt just as much as the broken ribs. It didn't much imagination to see why they had taken her, Hannah Drozdov didn't have any bite marks on her neck. That met only one thing, she was a used for their amusement, for sex. It made bile rise up in my throat, I pulled her shirt down.

"You dropped your bag in the room and I packed an extra set of clothes for you. We should be in Tarasov by nightfall, you will need to be checked at the hospital there. " I told her as her eyes were opening.

"I need to go into Peter's study, when he took me he kept my necklace with the crest on it. I have to have it." She pleaded with me, it made her sound like a little girl as Hannah's voice went up an octave.

"I will tell Bradley to keep an eye out for it, we are going through the rooms right now." I reassured, we had already gone through her room, anything of value to her was put in the back pack, everything else was going to be burned. "Come on let's go, we need to get you out of here."

She got up stiffly and I grabbed her pack for her again and we headed out of the triage room and out the front door, it was about 10 o'clock in the morning and the sun was out, I forgot she hadn't seen the sun for three years because she closed her eyes and squinted at the intensity of it. Her skin showed signs of no outdoor exposure, it was white, whiter than some of the Moroi skin had seen. I grabbed Hannah's hand with my other hand and helped her down the stairs to the waiting Tahoe that was taking us to the private airport to get her out of here.

Janine Hathaway was already in there waiting on us, I let Hannah in first to sit beside Janine and I got in and closed the door, I set the bag on the floor.

"Ready?" Gabe, I think his name was.

"Let's go, the Queen is expecting us by nightfall." I told the younger Guardian.

As we left, I noticed Hannah's tenseness leave a bit. Her eyes wondered around the outside the compound, it was an old industrial park outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Her expression changed, she looked confused about something.

"Is something wrong?" Janine asked, I was surprised that she was being so soft with Hannah, usually Janine would tell the girl to toughen up but maybe her kindness had to do with Rose still missing. I had it on good authority they had tracked her and Princess Vasilisa down.

"I don't remember this, I was brought somewhere else entirely. They must have moved me." Her expression become tense again and she sank further in the seat and shivered. I reached back to get a blanket in the back cargo area and draped the green-grey fabric over her, as soon as I did she fell asleep.

An hour later after we had stopped to get some food, we arrived at the airport and Hannah still hadn't woken up, I gave Janine the food that we had gotten Hannah and I put the pack on my back and took her up the steps of the private plane that the Queen had provided us. We would get there well before nightfall. Hannah stirred slightly but otherwise fell asleep when I placed her in the reclining seat.


	2. Beating Heart

_I didn't realize this but the author of the first chapter called Court, Tarasov, I didn't catch it till someone emailed me. Hannah isn't going to the prison._

Chapter 2: Beating Heart

I didn't remember getting in the plane but Dimitri or one of the other Guardians must have carried me after I fell asleep. They had some food for me when I woke up and I ate the sandwiches quickly but they didn't seem to mind, Janine smiled at me as I finished the third sandwich and a small bag of chips.

"Did you want some milk?" Janine asked me as she got up to go the refrigerator on the plane.

"Yes, please. Haven't had that in forever." I answered trying to remember the last time I had milk. I couldn't quite recall, not since Peter took me.

"There you go." Janine handed me a carton of milk, I opened it up and I drank most of it in one gulp.

"When was the last time you ate?" Dimitri came out of the cockpit area with the duster trailing behind him.

"Um... three days ago I think. Giles or Ben would usually find me food." I answered as I got up to throw away the milk carton. I must have forgotten my injury because my ribs picked that moment to let themselves be known.

"We land in about an hour, if you want you can go get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom." Dimitri stated as he pointed to the back of the plane.

I took my pack and shut and locked the door expecting a tiny space but it was actually a full bathroom with a shower and everything. It was a burgundy and cream motif that I would expect out of the Queen. I had showered that morning, Peter didn't want a dirty screw so I didn't need the shower but decided brushing my teeth and putting a comb through my hair wouldn't hurt. I reached in the pack hoping that Dimitri had packed me that and he had along with my hairbrush and a few hair ties. He seemed to know what a girl needed. I picked out a different t shirt as well, a navy blue short-sleeve that had been a surprise birthday gift from Giles this year. Carefully I changed it as to not aggravate my rib injury. I let my hair out of the clip I had it in, my dark caramel hair was one of the few things I wasn't ashamed of, Peter had taken everything else but he couldn't pervert this. I put the brush through it and decided to leave it down, my mother might recognize me better. Brushing my teeth and washing my face and hands didn't take long, I checked myself in the mirror and knew that this was as good as it was going to get. I saw an emaciated person standing there, even though I was a bit taller for a dhampir, I still looked like I was of the dead if it wasn't for my beating heart you would have probably thought so too.

As I came out of the bathroom Dimitri, Janine, another guardian were having a discussion but it stopped as soon as they heard the door open. I raised my eyebrows because that is always an indicator that someone is talking about you.

"You look just like your mother." The one guardian said as he flashed a grin at me.

"Um, thanks, you know her?" I asked as I made my way over to my seat which happened to be between Dimitri and the other guardian.

"Yes, I was assigned to her for about a year a few years back, your almost as tall as her too." He said as he looked me up and down. "Her hair too"

"A lot of Drozdov women have this color of hair." I nodded my head. I thought it was weird the look in his eyes. Dark hair and blue eyes was Drozdov hallmark, like the Dashkov's and their green eyes.

"Um Colin come over here and let's go over the route to Court." Janine called over to the weird guardian.

"Once we get to the palace, I'll be leaving you but Janine will be staying." Dimitri told me as I started to read a gossip magazine.

"Why?" Him telling me this made me feel vulnerable an emotion I had avoided for the last four hours.

"Because you don't need eight guardians there and I have to go find another dhampir who is on the loose." Dimitri responded with a smile, "But if you want I can stay with you until your visit with the Queen is over."

"Yes, if you would please." My voice cracked like a little girl and Dimitri nodded his head in agreement.

"We have the go ahead to land." A voice over the intercom announced.

Everyone got back to their seat and buckled up and as the landing gear came down Dimitri used his arm to brace me. It was a bit bumpy as we landed and at one point I was glad his arm was there because I would've been knocked out of my seat for light I was. This time when we stepped out of the plane, Janine had given me a pair of sunglasses to put on. I was placed again in the middle of the seat and was told we only had about a half hour drive before we hit the gates. I got really nervous, to see the Queen, to see my mother, would Aaron be there? What about my father and what would other dhampirs and moroi think about me.

The gates and statues were amazing, just like I remembered when my mom took me there for fourteenth birthday to meet the Queen. We passed the entrances of the underground parking garages, some of the administrative buildings, and some of the smaller residences, and we hit the royal grounds where the Princes and Princesses of the Court lived, it was grand. We pulled up to the Court Building where the Queen held her business meetings and a few Royal Guardians came up the vehicle and opened the passenger and back doors.

Janine got out and I scooted across and the one Guardian gave me his hand. "Quickly, she's been getting restless. I will escort you to the reception area." I was almost dragged by the Guardian and Janine and Dimitri will walking at a fast pace to keep up. We were led through a maze of hallways and doorways that I couldn't find my way out of here to save my life. We stopped at a huge counter that would make a Vegas Show Girl blush, "Tell them they are here with Drozdov." The Guardian told a moroi woman who was impeccably dressed and had her nose in the air.

She left the desk and a few minutes later a door opened and another moroi came out, dressed even better and motioned for us to follow him. I looked behind me and Dimitri and Janine were still there and they were following me through the door. As soon as Janine and Dimitri made it through the door slammed behind us and I was led into a large seating area, "Sit, the Queen will be with you."

A few breaths later as I looked to Dimitri for reassurance, she came bursting through a hidden bookcase. She was as I remember her, the dark hair put up elegantly in a half up and half down style, she had the same laugh lines around her mouth that I remember and the same flawless skin as well.

"Come let me see you." Tatianna motioned me over as I got up stand in front her. She and I were about the same height and she smiled down at me. Despite her age the Queen's eyes sparkled with glee.

"Oh, my." She paused as she surveyed my neck as if she was trying to be subtle. "Hannah my love, your mother is glad to hear you are back."

"She's here?" I asked.

"Yes and so is your father, I have course took the liberty of alerting him that we had found you. Emmett and Lucas will take your rooms once we have had a chance to chat."

The Queen embraced me and I jumped back, "What is this? What happened?" she asked concerned her big green eyes getting bigger.

"It happened during the raid." I answered quickly as Dimitri had gotten up and started to make his way over to me.

"Oh, of course, those monsters never stop. Would you like some tea dear?" the Queen asked

"No Thank You." I refused the cup and followed the Queen in sitting down and remembered how to sit like my mother and aunts had taught me to before I saw the first time.

"I want to put this behind you as quickly as possible but first we have to get you better, get some meat on those bones but I suspect you will take more after your moroi side of your family. I will of course provide you with any money you need for clothes, phones, little tech gadgets that your heart desires." She motioned to a dhampir in the corner that had snuck in at some point, he handed her a credit card and it had my name. "Here anything you need at all, tomorrow just go out and explore. I will be speaking to your mother and father for a few hours and that will give you time to roam about."

"Your Majasty they are waiting for you." A formal and severe looking moroi.

"Well, I must be going. I will see you by the end of the week." The Queen left in a flurry of robes.

"Come on." Janine said as she took my arm and we were off again through the hallways and doors and out again and back into the car. Dimitri said goodbye quickly and before he left to go the opposite way he gave me a cross, "It is not your crest necklace but you can barrow mine until you get yours back." I took it numbly and I put it on. Then he was gone, duster and all.

This time we continued further to the houses of the royals, I recognized this street this is where my mother's house was.

We stopped in front of the Brownstone type house. I didn't realize I was holding my breath, I felt as if I was having an out of body experience. I was walking but my head wasn't there, this was it I was safe and I was home.


	3. End of Night

End of Night, Not of Darkness.

As soon as the door shut to the house my mother and father were on me, I had backed up out of their reach which I could tell upset my mother, she was hurt.

"I have broken ribs so no smothering please." I tried to explain. The moment that it left my mouth my mom was on helicopter parent mode.

"Oh, Dear God, let me call the Doctor Gee, get you X-ray." She hugged me anyway but kept the tight hug part to my shoulders.

My father sat in the living room for me, he grinned that Addams grin. "Well, look there, isn't this a sight. My little princess." My father's voice faltered a bit as I went to sit in his lap like I always had. "I am glad to have you home, safe."

"Did they feed you, I had Sabrina cook you your favorite." My mother asked as she stood in front of the chair my dad and I were in.

I looked up at her, she was wearing a wrap dress in a red shade that made her pale skin look almost white and her customary Drozdov crest that my grandfather had given her. "Yes absolutely." I placed my hand around my neck, "I lost my crest, and the guardians said they would look for it in the compound." I felt tears sting my eyes, I didn't want to lose it in front of my parents. I had nothing that I had left home with now, the necklace, my pride, my virginity, my dignity. I had nothing now.

"Don't worry about that, we will get you another one. You are back and now your father and I can sleep at night knowing you are safe." My mother smiled.

I didn't realize this but my mother had perfect white teeth, her fangs like all of the other moroi were hidden when she smiled. Although right now she should be in bed sleeping the day away, she seemed too nervous to go to sleep.

I got up out of my father's lap and started towards the kitchen, "Oh, dear let Cecil bring you your plate, you can take a nice bath while she finishes up. We could also book you a hair appointment for tomorrow, get some of those dead ends taken care off."

"That would be nice." I answered as I headed to my room, I had an adjoining bathroom with a spa tub. When I walked into my room, it was covered with shopping bags, the bed had a dark bed spread and god only knows how many pillows.

"You like it?" my mother came behind me. "I went and bought you clothes, they told me were tall and well not fed for good during capture. There are some other clothes in the closet."

I started going through the bags and found three fairly large ones with just underwear, bras, socks, and tights. Then I found the bag with some satin pajamas, I picked one with a full button down shirt and pants, took a pair of underwear. I stared at my mom not knowing what to say to her, I felt as if I was emotionally thawing, like the dam was about to go but I couldn't let that happen.

"I'll put these away, just call out if you need me." She told me as I went to get my bath started.

After I had taken a bath and gotten something in my stomach, I kissed my father goodnight for the first time in three years and my mother prayed at the dinner table for the first time in three years. I know I am lucky, I wasn't dead but coming back was going to have its own set challenges that I am wholly sure I am ready for.

Next Evening Royal Court Guardian Headquarters Building.

"The recovery of dhampir Hannah Drozdov was a flawless execution of strategic planning and having the people on the ground. Not only did we eliminate the strigoi but a cache of stakes, blueprints on various Moroi and dhampir compounds. We have to be prepared and our guardians have to be on their toes." An official looking guardian captain said as he debriefed a group of guardians on the latest raid.

"How does this help us, they know how to get in, they know where we laid the security fences." A younger guardian asked as he sat back in his chair.

"It helps comrade Ranstand, because we know what they know, so we can counter it. As for the girl, Guardian Hathaway has her on watch, the Queen is still deciding what to do with her at the moment." The elder captain stated.

"Let's hope the Queen keeps her under guard, I heard from one of the guardians who went on the raid say that she's a little unstable." A female guardians spoke up as she stepped forward from the wall.

"Well, I would be unstable too if I was held captive like that for three years, remember she is still young." The captain cut the debate short. "Hannah Drozdov is a royal, many moroi see her as one of theirs so we have to handle this in a professional manner."

"Have they found the other Hathaway and Princess Dragomir?" Guardian Ranstand asked to change the subject

"They have leads and are working on it, we have a team of six on them right now." The captain stated.

"With increased attacks, why are we searching for two girls who clearly don't want to be found?" A senior guardian questioned. "I know the Dragomir girl is the last of her house but with strigoi being bolder and growing in number we are stretching ourselves too thin.

"Remember, they come First."

Hannah POV  
I was surrounded by two guardians, Janine the one who was with me during the rescue and a surly looking older guardian whose name escaped me. I was sitting in the chair at the Beauty Salon that my mother frequented when I was a child.

"Okay dear let's have a look." The stylist was a Moroi woman in her late thirties. You could she had dyed her hair for years because now she had it in shoulder length style with her roots clearly showing. Her clothing was expensive though, the stuff you would find DVF store.

I looked in the mirror and she hadn't done too much to my hair, she had taken three inches off, which still left it half way down my back. I looked in the mirror as the stylist as she held it out for me to see I started to see part of myself pre-kidnapping. I started to dust off the imaginary hairs off of my leather bolero jacket, mom picked it out and paired it with a blue tunic and leggings and finished the look off with a pair of booties.

"Okay where to next?" Guardian Hathaway asked

"I was hoping to get a cellphone and a laptop, so." We were on our way out of the salon and the guardian who was driving us around gave a nod to Janine.

"Sounds good, I saw a tech store a few blocks back." Janine got in first and then the older guardian. "How are your ribs?"

"Oh, a little better, I wasn't as stiff as I thought I would be and Dr. Gee says they should be completely healed by tomorrow." I answered as I put the bag of hair products the sales lady at the salon had been eager to sell me once she saw the Drozdov name on my card. Fingering the cross that Dimitri had given me, I felt as if it was a good luck charm.

"Did you get your new ID?" Janine asked, we had a few problems with me moving around Court with my ID from when I was 14.

"Yes I did. I had to tell the lady that I was a dhampir like three times." My dad had to come in and explain to the lady at the Vital Stats department that I wasn't Moroi, he had to take out my birth certificate and his ID to prove it.

"People are always going to think that, at least till you gain weight." Janine reasoned, I felt kind of like she was lecturing me and of course my stomach started grumble.

"Who's hungry?" I asked with an impish grin on my face.


End file.
